VICIOUS (II) : peter pan ouat

How to Have Sweet Dreams

He kisses me back, biting my bottom lip as he pulls me in.

I lean up into it, pushing him down on to the bed. I can feel his smirk beneath my mouth. He tastes like pine and danger, and all I am anymore is the forest. There is no difference between Neverland and myself anymore, no distinction between human and earth. We are both magical forces anyway, so I don't really think much else matters after that.

"If you're having nightmares, I can stop it." Peter tells me.

I pull off of him, backing up. "I'm not having nightmares."

We can't get into this. We can't feel.

"Oh darling," he mocks, "and I've got the heart of the truest believer."

I scoff. "Obviously you don't."

"Maybe not." He begins. "But soon enough I will."

I almost laugh. Whatever that means.

"I can get rid of them." He tells me. With the flick of his finger the candle ignites, and its glow warms the room. "But it'll have to come at a price."

"All magic comes at a price." I repeat. "Just do it."

"It'll bring them out during the day, at least for the first bit." He tells me.

"Just do it." I repeat.

He places both of his hands on my temples, looking into my eyes. His are a beautiful green, and I can't help but wish to look into them forever. His left hand leaves my head, a white trail of thought moving along with it. It glows white, and seems to sprout between his hand and my head like a spider web. He shakes his hand, and I watch as it falls down, dissipating into the air.

"Glad that's over." I roll my eyes. "It was getting annoying."

He looks at me out of the corner of his eye, before spinning on the bed. "Did I tell you exactly what I had a nightmare about? Back when I caused the island to freeze over."

That was weeks ago, but I can still remember it. It was back at the old camp, and I could taste the cold in the air. Frost bite on my ear, snowflakes in my eyelashes, death on my tongue. Freezing to death isn't something you easily forget.

I shake my head, and he sighs. "I'm going to die."

My feet bring me out of the bed, backing away from him. "No you are not. That doesn't make any sense."

"I've been here almost two hundred years Charlotte. I should be dead twice over."

"No one ages here." I feel the cold rocks against my back.

He gets up, but doesn't move closer to me. "All magic comes at a price. My time is running out. Unless-"

"What?" I ask.

"The war I've been talking about." He continues. "It will come soon. I have been waiting for a boy for over one hundred years. He has what I need to stay immortal."

"Then take it." I almost bare my teeth. "Take it."

He almost laughs. "So you're ready for a war then."

"I'm always ready for a war." I correct.

"But you'd go to war for me?" He asks.

I nod. I would go to war for him any day. Any and every day I would fight. That much has already happened multiple times over.

"Just for me?" He asks.

I reach forward, kissing him again. This time it's hungry, and I feel him lift me off of the ground. We need this, which I guess in a way means we need each other. I don't know whether to be thankful or ashamed.